After their parents die, Homer and his older brother, Harold, are sent to live with thier Uncle Squinton, who forces them to live in a barn and who feeds his animals better than his nephews. When "Uncle Squint" has Harold illegally enlisted (Harold is only 17) in the Union Army, Homer runs away in search of his big brother.

Along the way, Homer encounters such characters as Stink and Smelt, two thieves and bounty hunters, Jebediah Brewster, a Quaker pacifist, whom Homer mistakes for God himself, Reverend Webster B. Willow, who falls for the wrong woman, Professor Fleabottom, who leads a rag tag group of circus performers, and a hot air balloon named Tilda. Throughout his many adventures, Homer, in a fashion that would make Huck Finn proud, displays his knack for embellishing the simplest of truths into full-fledged whoppers while maintaining an undying devotion to his brother.

A humorous, heart-felt, and accurately detailed view of the Civil War through the eyes of a boy, The Mostly True Adventures will take you through a stop on the Underground Railroad, across the water in passenger ferry, over the land in a wagon caravan, through the sky in an "airship," and into the midst of the battlefield to a satisfyingly bittersweet conclusion.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

This week each grade will be introduced to the September authors of the month! Check out the links below for more information on each!

3rd Grade: Tomie dePaola

Author of more than 200 children's books, Tomie dePaola is perhaps best known for his Strega Nona books. This week, the third grade will be reading some biographical information about dePaola and will be reading and discussing Strega Nona.

Find out more about Tomie dePaola here.Read about how Strega Nona came to be here.Click here for some arts and crafts and coloring pages from Tomie.

Watch this animated version of Strega Nona:

4th Grade: Jon Scieszka

Jon Scieszka was once an elementary school teacher, so he definitely knows what makes kids laugh! The fourth grade will be reading some of Scieszka's hilarious fairy tales and poems this week.

Read about Jon Scieszka here.Here are pictures of Jon as a kid and some pictures that show early drafts of his books.Here's Jon's Guys Read site, with lots of good suggestions for books for guys!

Check out this video interview of Jon:

5th Grade: Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman won the 2009 Newbery award with his Graveyard Book, a collection of stories about a boy named Bod, who is raised by ghosts. The fifth grade will be hearing the beginning of Bod's story this week.

Read about Neil Gaiman here.Find FREE online recordings of each chapter of The Graveyard Bookhere.Read some Frequently Asked Questions of Neil and submit your own here.

Friday, September 3, 2010

The Uglified Ducky: A Maynard Moose TaleAs told to Willy Claflin, Illustrated by James StimsonThis week in the library, several classes had a chance to listen to The Uglified Ducky, a lighthearted re-telling of the classic tale, The Ugly Duckling. Narrator Maynard Moose, in his distinctive moose dialect, recounts the story of a baby moose who accidentally "blunders" into a duckling nest and is adopted by Mommy Ducky, who proclaims him to be "the most uglified ducky I never see!" After several attempts to become a proper ducky, complete with a visit to the family doctor who diagnoses him with both quadrapedagogy and a "bad case of antlers," the uglified ducky happens upon some "magnifusent beasties," who have hooves and antlers like him. All turns out well, when our hero discovers that he is, in fact, a moose, not a ducky, and he bounds joyfully away with his new moose family. Playfully told in a hilariously distinctive voice, The Uglified Ducky, is a tale for anyone who has ever felt like a misfit.Call Number: F CLAReading Level: 3.6AR Points: 0.5Reviews: School Library JournalAwards: 2010 Texas Bluebonnet NomineeIf You Liked This, You Might Like: The Ugly Duckling (F AND), The Hinky Pink (F MCD), Cinder-Elly (398.21 Min)